A Lesson in Karma
by amantebandido
Summary: It has been five years since Jan Di got married, yet Ji Hoo still hasn't moved on with his life. Will his saving grace come in the form of an idol star who nurses a self-hatred all of her own? Birds of a feather tend to flock together, after all...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I just finished watching the Korean drama "Boys Before Flowers". Now I have watched the Tiwanese, Japanese, and Korean version of the show and have loved all of them. I just never liked how they left the character of Rui/Lei/Ji Hoo alone at the end. He was always my favorite character, and I feel like he deserves an interesting and successful love story of his own. So this is my take. **

**This story takes place five years after the final events of "Boys Over Flowers", putting the characters at around 27/28 years old. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**A Fateful Encounter**

* * *

"Am I the only doctor in this damned hospital?" Ji Hoo whispered to himself, exiting his office after being paged for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. It wasn't usual for the reserved man to vocalize his frustrations, but he felt as though he was justified.

After all, he was having the worst day in his life.

He had woken up in the morning to find the papers all sporting the news that famous Korean model Min Seo Hyun was divorcing her equally famous Parisian husband because of his adulterous ways. Though it had been years since he had left her in Paris after her engagement, Ji Hoo couldn't help but feel bitter. _Seo Hyun had dumped him for a cheating playboy? What in the world did that say about him?_

And if that wasn't enough news to put him in a dark mood, he found himself ambushed during his lunch by a glowing Jan Di, who came in with a large bowl of seaweed soup.

"Is it someone's birthday today?" Ji Hoo questioned, looking at the steaming broth. Normally, seaweed soup was reserved only for special occasions.

"No, today is an important day, though," Jan Di said as Ji Hoo hesitantly tried the soup. Deciding it was better than the instant ramyeon he had been eating for the past week, he helped himself to more.

"Really, what is so special about today?' he asked, half expecting Jan Di to say that they were celebrating Seo Hyun's divorce. He knew that she would have some ridiculous plan for him to win back his first love. Jan Di was always naïve like that.

"I recieved some great news today," Jan Di said. Ji Hoo looked up at her, motioning for her to go on.

"Ji-Hoo sunbae," Jan Di cried, her eyes overly bright, "Jun Pyo and I are expecting our first child!"

Had Ji Hoo been a less restrained man he would have spewed the seaweed soup all over the table.

"That is wonderful news," he finally forced himself to say. It had been five years since Jan Di and Jun Pyo had gotten married, and Ji Hoo still wasn't fine with that fact. Now they were expecting their first child. Jan Di, _his_ Jan Di, was expecting her first child.

"We want you to be the godfather, of course" Jan Di gushed.

_The irony was enough to make him gag._

* * *

So it was no surprise that Ji Hoo was not in the best of moods when he entered his latest patient's room. It was days like this that made him yearn for the high school days again. At least he didn't have a conscious back then.

"Who do we have this time?" Ji Hoo asked the nurse, who seemed to be momentarily stunned by his entrance. It had been two years since he had started working in the hospital, and people still called him 'The Prince Doctor'. As if it even mattered.

"We…I…the patient…" the nurse stammered. Ji Hoo concealed the sigh of impatience that threatened to spill out of him. _After all, he was the pragmatic and conservative Ji Hoo_. Sighing was unacceptable.

"May I have a look at the patient's records?" he asked, patiently. The nurse nodded her head blankly and handed him a manila folder.

Ji Hoo opened the folder, exasperated. Another case of the flu. People these days were becoming over paranoid, going to the hospital after only a few sneezes. Plastering on a fake smile, Ji Hoo walked over to the patient.

_It seems as though I am becoming rather skilled at faking happiness_, Ji Hoo thought to himself bitterly. It was a useful skill to possess when one's life wasn't happy in the least bit.

The rest of the day progressed at a snail's pace and was so exhausting that Ji Hoo considered just collapsing in the middle of the hospital so that they would force him to take a break. Instead, he just visited the canteen every half hour, getting himself one coffee after another, as though caffeine could solve all of his problems. Though, in reality, the canteen just severed as another problem for him, seeing as it was filled with nurses that were rife with the latest gossip and were all too willing to share.

"Dr. Yoon," a nurse gushed, pushing a magazine in his face, "have you seen the latest news about the actress and singer Park Mei Ji? Everybody is speculating whether she and her costar are dating in real life".

Ji Hoo looked distastefully at the beautiful, doe-eyed girl on the front of the magazine. He had always been more of a newspaper and classical music type of person. He didn't keep up with popular culture and didn't see why everybody else seemed to be obsessed with it.

"That is wonderful," Ji Hoo said, pushing the magazine away. Always diplomatic Ji Hoo. _Always fake Ji Hoo._

"What do you think?" the nurse asked her fellow chattering friends, "they would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?"

Ji Hoo stood up and walked away, leaving his half full cup of coffee behind. The constant gossip and talking were even worse than being in his office with the empty bowl of seaweed soup mocking him. _It was going to be a long day…_

* * *

Finally, Ji Hoo's shift was over and he left the hospital as quickly as he could. The cold night air hit him in full force as he started to walk the distance between the hospital and the garage where he kept his car.

It was an exhausting life he lived. _A horrible life_, he thought to himself. He remembered five years before, graduating from medical school and starting a career as an idealistic doctor, filled with the will to help everybody he saw. He had been so full of morals then. But those had started to disappear. They left as he stood by Jun Pyo as the best man at his wedding, they left as they lowered his grandfather into his grave. They left just as everybody that had ever been close to him left.

_Way to throw yourself a one man pity party_, Ji Hoo thought with acrid amusement as he started to cross the bridge that led him to the garage. He walked slowly, the wind making his copper hair fly in all sorts of crazy angles around his angelic face.

He looked up to see a small girl bent over the railing of the bridge. He slowed his pace as he looked over at her. Her feet were on the railing and her long, wavy hair was blowing, hiding her face. He watched, eyes widening a bit as she started to hoist herself over the ledge.

_Wonderful_, Ji Hoo thought as he hurried over towards her, _the last thing I need is for some teenager to kill herself right in front of my eyes_. Grabbing the girl around the waist, he hoisted her away from the ledge.

Shocked, the girl slumped in his arms for a second. Then she started fighting back. She bucked around like a wildcat, kicking and clawing at him.

"What do you think you were trying to do?" he asked, though the answer was painfully obvious.

"Let go of me," the girl whispered to him harshly.

"Not if you are just going to go back and try to jump off the bridge once more," Ji Hoo whispered back. Already a crowd of people were starting to form around them. The girl suddenly buried her head in Ji Hoo's chest.

"What are you doing?" Ji Hoo asked. He had just saved the girl's life, but he didn't expect her to be so affectionate, especially when just a few seconds earlier it seemed as though she had been trying to dismember him with her nails.

"I can't let them see my face," she said, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him. The crowd started to smile and chatter amongst themselves.

"What a cute couple," Ji Hoo heard a woman near him say. He looked down at the girl, who was so tightly wrapped against him. This was not what he needed at the moment.

"It doesn't matter if they see your face," he said pulling her off of him. The girl started to bury her head in her arms, but Ji Hoo caught both of her hands before she could. He looked down at the girl's horror stricken face and felt his eyes widen.

It was the exact same face that had graced the magazine that had been so unceremoniously thrust at him earlier in the day.

"Park Mei Ji!" he heard a woman in the crown shriek. The girl groaned loudly and glared at Ji Hoo, who was still grabbing onto her wrists.

"Who is that man with her?"

"Are they dating?"

"Of course they are! Didn't you see the way they were hugging earlier?"

"And look at how he is clutching onto her wrists now"

Ji Hoo immediately let go of the girl's wrists, but not before nearly everybody in the crowd had taken pictures of the incident with their phones. He looked down at the girl once again. The suicidal teenager that he had saved had actually turned out to be the most famous star in all of Korea.

"Why were you trying to kill yourself?" Ji Hoo whispered to Mei Ji. The girl looked up at him and snorted bitterly.

"Do you ever feel like your life is just cursed?" she whispered before turning on her heels and promptly walking away from him. The crowd followed her, leaving Ji Hoo alone, confused, and in slight disbelief of the events that had just occurred.

That seemed to be a trend with him.

* * *

For the next two days, Ji Hoo had off from the hospital and he decided to isolate himself. He pretended it was because he had caught a cold from one of his patients and needed to recover. Truthfully, though, he just wanted two days to sleep and stay away from everybody else. Jan Di and Jun Pyo were going to have a child, Yi Jung and Ga Eul were getting married, even Woo Bin seemed to have slowed down his stream of women a bit. Everybody was going somewhere, and Ji Hoo didn't feel like trying to catch up with them. He was just too exhausted to.

Ji Hoo slowly, lethargically, walked around the house, picking up his mail, ignoring the paper—he didn't need Seo Hyun divorce drama part 2. He started to flip lazily through his letters as he made his way to the kitchen.

_Ads, Ads, Garage bills, Ads, SM Contract, Ads, Ads_.

"Wait, SM Contract," Ji Hoo said to himself, pulling out a rather thick envelope from the stack. It was a very ominous looking envelope, with "SM Entertainment" stamped on the front of it in bold letters.

_What is this_, Ji Hoo thought, _am I being recruited to go into entertainment now?_ He stopped for a moment to imagine himself being packaged with a group of prepubescent boys and marketed as the next big boy band. It was the most amusing thing that had crossed his mind in a while.

He opened the envelope and took out the contract inside.

"Relationship contract," he read aloud, becoming steadily more confused.

Suddenly there was sharp knocking on the door. He put down the contract and walked over to the door. The person on the other side kept knocking, a steady rhythm that started to grate on Ji Hoo's nerves after only a couple of seconds. There was only one person out there would knock impatiently like that.

He opened the door and saw the familiar figure of Jun Pyo glaring at him. Ji Hoo opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by Jun Pyo, who punched him in his stomach… hard.

Ji Hoo doubled over and stared at his friend, clutching onto his stomach. _What was going on now?_

"You…" Jun Pyo said, pointing a shaking finger at Ji Hoo, "you bastard! I thought we were friends, how could you betray me like this?"

_Isn't that supposed to be my line_, Ji Hoo thought to himself.

He looked up and blinked slowly, his trademark. Confusion, anger, happiness, it was all expressed in his slow, almost lazy, blinking. All of the sudden Jun Pyo's face broke out into a smile and he clutched his friend by the shoulders, hoisting him up.

"Though I can't say that I'm not happy for you," Jun Pyo said, smiling widely, "it's about time that you got yourself a girl".

"Jun Pyo, what are you talking about?" Ji Hoo asked, separating himself from his friend's grip.

"The newspaper today," Jun Pyo said, throwing a copy of it to Ji Hoo, "I did really expect you to share this information with us before, though. What kind of friendship do we have if we all have to learn about this by reading a paper? Yi Jung and Woo Bin are upset too".

Ji Hoo looked at the paper, his heart stopping momentarily as he read the headline.

"SM idol star Park Mei Ji dating grandson of Late President Yoon Seok Young" he read aloud. Underneath the headline was a blurry picture of Ji Hoo grabbing on to Mei Ji's hands, both of them glaring at each other. Ji Hoo hadn't realized he had glared at her so passionately. He didn't think she had noticed it either.

_Now the SM contract seemed to make more sense._

"You know she's my favorite actress," Jun Pyo whined. Ji Hoo looked up at his friend quickly. Had his fake relationship with Mei Ji made Jun Pyo jealous? Had he, Yoon Ji Hoo, made Jun Pyo jealous?

_Why did that fact make him so happy?_

"I still don't know why you couldn't tell us," Jun Pyo continued, "haven't I always been your unwavering and constantly supportive friend?" _Ji Hoo's mind wandered to the time where Jun Pyo had kicked him out of the F4 and made him compete for the chance to stay in school._

"Yes," he answered.

"And have I ever done anything that made you sad or upset?" Jun Pyo continued. _Four years back, white suit, fake smile, watching as the girl he loved expressed her love and loyalty to Jun Pyo._

"No," Ji Hoo answered.

"Then why couldn't you tell me? We're best friends!" Jun Pyo said, frowning. Ji Hoo didn't quite know what to say. He could just tell the truth and say that relationship was fake. But then again, telling the truth was not one of Ji Hoo's strong points. Plus, Mei Ji's words were still in his head.

_"Do you ever feel like your life is just cursed?"_

If only she knew.

"How long have you been dating? When is the wedding ceremony going to happen? I am going to be your best man, right?" Jun Pyo asked in rapid-fire speed. Ji Hoo grabbed his bag along and stuffed the contract in it.

"I have to go now," Ji Hoo said to Jun Pyo, "we can talk about this later".

"Later?" Jun Pyo said, as though it was the most offensive thing that Ji Hoo had ever said to him.

_I can think of a lot more offensive things to say to you, Jun Pyo._

"You should go back to Jan Di," Ji Hoo forced himself to say. _How long had it been? Why was he still having trouble just saying her name out loud?_ "Pregnant women need lots of attention and care." _Why did he always say things that made him feel like dying on the inside? Maybe he was a closet sadist._

"F4 meeting tomorrow," Jun Pyo said, "no excuses".

"I do have work, you know," Ji Hoo said shortly.

"No excuses," Jun Pyo said once again.

Ji Hoo just nodded and led his best friend out of his house. Jun Pyo often seemed to forget that the boys were grown up now and actually had responsibilities. Though, the thought of the F4 actually being responsible for other people was still a frightening though. But they all had to grow up sometime.

_Jun Pyo was still working on that._

Ji Hoo locked the front door and started to make his way to his car.

"You know, Jan Di was shocked when she heard the news," Jun Pyo said, "It was as though she thought that you would always just stay the same. The same Yoon Ji Hoo that she has known".

Ji Hoo faltered a little. That is what his problem was. He was always the same. The same Yoon Ji Hoo who was outwardly conservative and unemotional. The same Yoon Ji Hoo that was still in love with Jan Di. _The same Yoon Ji Hoo that hated himself._

"Things change," he said softly before getting into his car. It was off to SM Entertainment. He needed to have a long talk with a certain idol star.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, how was that? I know it was a lot of internal dialouge, but I think that is what Ji Hoo is all about and that's what makes him so interesting-- this things that he keeps inside. And I know that Park Mei Ji was just unceremoniously thrown in there, but trust me, there will be a lot more character developemnt for her in the comign chapters. Any thoughts/comments/ideas you have about this story are always welcome. Gracias y besos!! **


	2. An Agreement

**A/N: Okay, here is the next chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update. I am just getting settled back at home after coming home from university. Hopefully this chapter will be good enough to pacify you =) Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**An Agreement**

* * *

Ji Hoo had done many risky things before. After all, he was the boy who had jumped on a plane and followed his first love to a completely foreign country. He was the boy who had once challenged the prize son of the Shinwa company. He was the boy who had raced horses and driven cars at breakneck speed.

_So why did he find a single building so intimidating?_

The exterior of the SM building wasn't even intimidating in any way. Pale brown walls, box windows, a few bare trees with no leaves planted in front of it. In fact, the more Ji Hoo stared up at it, the uglier and plainer it seemed to become. The inside wasn't much better. It was plain, with white floors and walls splattered with posters of the companies' various successes. Bright smiles, ridiculous outfits, and seductive eyes stared out at him from every corner.

It was enough to make anyone anxious.

Ji Hoo's walked over to the front desk, wondering how he was to explain what he had come here to do. He didn't know if Mei Ji was in the building that day, and even if she was he didn't know the proper procedure for getting in contact with her. Ji Hoo was always just used to sitting back and letting things happen to him, letting others make the decisions for him. He was good at accepting-_hating_-the decisions of others. Actually calling the shots and making the decisions, however, was a bit outside the comfort zone he had placed himself in.

The woman from behind the front desk looked up at Ji Hoo and he frowned a little bit. She was exactly the type he hated—the noonas that caked themselves with makeup and had fake nails so long that they looked like neon talons.

She looked up at him, dark eyes clouded by contact lenses in an unquestionably fake shade of green. Ji Hoo felt himself internally cringe at the gaze of those eyes. _Fake eyes_. For a man who always showed his expression through his eyes, the thought was more than slightly off-putting.

"Oh, are you here to see Park Mei Ji-sshi?" the woman asked, a knowing smile spreading across her face.

Ji Hoo looked at her uncomfortably.

"There isn't a person who hasn't seen the newspaper today. I must say that you are much better looking in real life," she quickly added, pointing a vividly blue nail to a discarded paper on her desk. Ji Hoo blinked slowly.

"How long have the two of you been dating for?" the woman continued.

_How long have you been dressing up like a night worker for?_

"Is she here?" Ji Hoo asked simply.

"She just arrived ten minutes ago, so you are in luck," the woman said, "it's not very often that you catch her in here. Especially lately, since they are trying to promote her new Japanese album".

Ji Hoo waited patiently until the woman finished her tirade of words. He paid no attention to the drivel of speech coming his way, but instead focused his eyes on the oversized poster above the desk.

The large eyes of Mei Ji stared back at him.

Fair skin, wavy raven hair, large doe-eyes, dazzlingly bright smile. Ji Hoo could see how the girl had risen to popularity. She seemed to be the picture of youthful innocence and happiness. That was another touch of irony.

_Or just another reason to not trust appearances._

"…right over there".

Ji Hoo looked down at the woman to see her pointing her finger somewhere. He furrowed his brows in confusion and the woman sighed.

"It seems like you listen as much as you talk," she said—her tone was good natured, but the comment still made Ji Hoo frown. "I was saying that your girlfriend is on the fifth floor. The elevators are over there".

"Thank you," Ji Hoo mumbled to the woman before quickly heading over to the elevators. Today was his day off. He should be lounging in his bed with a good book and a strong cup of tea, not trying to track an idol star down in an entertainment building full of frightening people.

The elevator doors opened. Ji Hoo walked inside and found himself in surrounded by his own images. All four walls of the elevator were mirrors and an obnoxious pop song blasted from speakers located on the ceiling.

Even the elevators here made him want to hurl. _Wonderful._

He pressed the button to take him to the fifth floor and leaned against one of the mirrored wall as the elevator lurched upwards. Once again he wondered why he had come to this place. He could have easily just called the company; there was no need for him to actually confront Mei Ji in person.

Maybe it was the fact that he had just wanted to get away from Jun Pyo. Maybe it was the fact that the completely hopeless look that Mei Ji had given him the other day was still fresh in his mind.

_Maybe it was the fact that he was clinically insane._

He decided that it was the latter of those thoughts as the elevator doors rolled open to reveal a long hallway with tall white walls and a shining black floor. Ji Hoo stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway, once again feeling completely out of place. He had grown up surrounded by fine art, beautiful music, delicate sculptures. The world of commercial music and the entertainment industry was lost on him.

_I should have brought Wo Bin along_, he thought as he started to slowly walk down the hallway, _he would know how to handle this_. His friend's love for money had led him to create many contacts with high-ranking entertainment officials over the years. But as always, Ji Hoo found it exceedingly hard to ask anybody for help.

He scanned the doors on either side of the hallway until he found one that had the name "Park Mei Ji" engraved on the door plaque. Ji Hoo stood where he was, looking at the door for a few seconds, as though he expected it to tell him what to do.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?"

Ji Hoo turned around quickly to find a man staring at him. He seemed to be in his mid thirties with squinted eyes and hair so curly that it would even make Jun Pyo cringe.

"I…" Ji Hoo started, before he was cut off by the strange man.

"You are here to discuss the contract I sent you," the man said, waving a hand in Ji Hoo's direction, "you are rather punctual, aren't you? I hope you didn't have to cancel too many appointments to be here"

_Oh yes, I cancelled an appointment with my bed and a hot cup of tea…_

"Not many," Ji Hoo answered simply. The man nodded and stuck out his hand.

"My name is Choi Ran-Young," he said, "I am Mei Ji-ssi's manager".

Ji Hoo blinked in the direction of the man and stiffly shook his hand. Choi Ran-Young seemed harmless enough, but then again, it seemed as though he was the man who was responsible for the situation that Ji Hoo was in at the moment.

"Shall we go in, then?" Ran-Young asked, though it was more of an order than a question, "Mei Ji-ssi should already be here".

Ji Hoo opened the heavy door and walked into what he assumed would be Mei Ji's office. He found himself in a sizable room. The floor was a deep scarlet color and the walls were covered with awards and posters from Mei Ji's various albums and dramas. Ji Hoo retracted earlier thought. This place wasn't an office; it was a shrine to the young idol star.

"Come on, into the conference room," Ran-Young said, leading Ji Hoo into one of the side rooms. The conference room contained nothing but a wall of picture windows, a large wooden table, and a scraggly potted tree in the corner of the room.

Sitting at the table, with large dark circles under her eyes and her hair bunched into a knitted purple cap, was Park Mei Ji. It was the first time that Ji Hoo had seen her since the fated evening where he had stopped her from throwing herself off of a bridge. He noted that she really did look like a little girl, tiny and incredibly fragile. Her eyes, however, were dull and uncaring, not at all a proper fit on her innocent face.

"Ah, on time as always, I see," Ran-Young said happily as he sat down next to Mei Ji. He pointed to a chair across from the small girl, silently demanding Ji Hoo to sit down. He followed the man's instructions without hesitation. Ran-Young was in charge, and Ji Hoo was relived. He was good at following orders.

Mei Ji raised her eyes as Ji Hoo sat down in his seat. She took in his immaculately pressed clothes, his perfectly styled copper hair, his princely features. They all made her want to hurl.

"I can't do this," she said simply. Whether her comment was directed at Ran-Young or Ji Hoo was a mystery, but the impact of her words were a little clearer. Ran-Young's face immediately turned a color similar to the floor of the Mei Ji's office.

"You already agreed to the contract. You cannot go back now. Plus, we have discussed the importance of this," he whispered furiously. Mei Ji raised her large eyes to him and Ji Hoo could see the discomfort written all over the manager's face.

"The importance for my career?" she asked, her voice bordering on amusement, "don't you have countless other precious artists to take my place?"

Ji Hoo leaned back in his chair and observed Mei Ji interacting with her manager. Though Ji Hoo didn't exactly know what his type of girl was (his past two loves had been very different, after all), he knew that sulky, jaded types most certainly couldn't attract him.

_After all, what was the fun in being in a relationship with the female version of yourself?_

"Mei Ji-ssi, SM decided this was best for the company," Ran-Young continued. Mei Ji scoffed, but said nothing further. It was useless to argue with Ran-Young, his head was so wrapped up in the "good of the company". Besides, the princely man sitting across the table wouldn't accept the contract anyway. There was no reason for him to.

"Now, Ji Hoo-ah," Ran-Young said. Ji Hoo was slightly taken aback by the extremely informal way the manager spoke to him. Nobody but Jun Pyo had ever referred to him as "Ji Hoo-ah".

"…importance of the contract".

Ji Hoo realized that his surprise over Ran-Young's speech had made him completely miss the rest of the man's statement. He looked up at the manager and blinked slowly, his head jerking back slightly. Mei Ji saw the motion and immediately knew that the man had been spacing out. A small smile touched her lips.

_She was good at reading people like herself._

"All SM is asking is that you pretend to be in a relationship with Mei Ji for a period of six months, until she goes to China to film her new drama," Ran-Young continued, completely oblivious to the fact that Ji Hoo had not heard a word of his earlier statement.

Ji Hoo frowned slightly. He might not be interested in popular culture, but even he had seen Full House. He knew that a contracted relationship between a popular star and a neitzen was a plot straight out of a drama. It was something that should never happen in real life. He wondered if SM, being an entertainment company, just had some sort of dramatic flair about them.

"Of course, you will be handsomely compensated," Ran-Young added. Ji Hoo's brows knit together subconsciously.

_Handsomely compensated_? His grandfather used to be President, his family was incredible wealthy, hell, his bachelor pad was bigger than most people's dream houses. How in the world was SM planning on handsomely compensating him? Were they going to buy him all of Korea?

"Compensation might be difficult," Ji Hoo said softly. _Wasn't that the understatement of the century?_

"We understand that your late grandfather ran an art institution," Ran-Young said, smiling. It was a wholly wicked smile, Mei Ji noted. She had known her manager long enough to know that he only smiled like that whenever he was pressing on somebody's weak spot.

"Yes," Ji Hoo answered simply, his face betraying nothing.

"I also understand that it is not doing very well," Ran-Young pressed. Ji Hoo blinked.

"We are going through an economic recession," he answered, diplomatically as always, "it is common sense that funding for the arts suffer".

Of course, Ji Hoo didn't mention that running his grandfather's center was costing him more than the place could ever make. Not that it mattered. As long as Ji Hoo had money he would continue to run the place. He just wished that he could somehow make the center exceedingly popular, as his grandfather had always wished it would be.

"SM concerts usually attract thousands of people," Ran-Young said slowly, "in fact, Mei Ji-ssi alone brought 60,000 to her last concert"

Ji Hoo looked at the man, not quite sure what that statement was supposed to convey.

"SM will agree that every concert any of their artists do in Seoul will be held in your grandfather's center," Ran-Young finished, a wide smile on his face, "all you have to do s sign the contract".

Ji Hoo turned towards Mei Ji, who was still looking at the table as though the news hadn't phased her. _Was protecting the image of this small girl really that worth it to SM?_

"She's our companies' top artist," Ran-Young said, as though he could read Ji Hoo's mind, "protecting her is our number one priority".

Ji Hoo looked down at the contract. There were countless reasons why not to agree to it and date Mei Ji. But there were also two very large reasons why he should. The first, of course, being the chance to bring popularity to his grandfather's center once again. Though he had been estranged from the old man for years (or maybe because of that fact), Ji Hoo felt as though he owed it to his grandfather to do whatever possible to keep the legacy of the center strong. 60,000 plus per concert was no small number, and he found it almost impossible to ignore such an opportunity.

But the other, possibly more important reason…

_His fake relationship with Mei Ji had made Jun Pyo jealous_.

Sure Jun Pyo was his best friend, but after five years of seeing Jan Di making loving faces at him, Ji Hoo felt that he needed his moment to gloat. His moment to be the one who was hated, his moment to be with the golden girl.

Was it evil to want to make one's own best friend burn with jealousy? Possibly. Was Ji Hoo an evil man? Possibly.

But it was even more evil for Jun Pyo to constantly flaunt the one thing that Ji Hoo couldn't have.

_Ji Hoo felt as though he had earned the right to be evil._

"I'll agree," Ji Hoo said finally, "to the contract". Mei Ji's eyes finally showed some emotion after that statement. She looked up at him in surprise. She had never expected the man to agree. After all, he was horribly rich and even more horribly handsome.

_There was absolutely no reason for him to agree to the contract._

Ji Hoo's eyes caught Mei Ji's and the girl understood what the man didn't speak out loud.

_Everybody had their reasons._

"That is wonderful!" Ran-Young said happily, "now, see Mei Ji-ssi, Ji Hoo-ah agreed to the contract. Can't you just be a good girl and go along with it as well?"

"I don't want to get involved in a relationship again," Mei Ji said simply. Ji Hoo nodded his head slightly. _Was he meeting another person scorned by love?_

"It is not a real relationship," Ran-Yan said quickly, "it is just for the cameras. Think of it as just another drama".

Mei Ji looked down at her hands. Ji Hoo caught something sparkling on one of the girl's fingers, but she quickly tucked her hands under the table before he could see anything clearly.

"Six months only," she said after a few moments of silence. Ran-Young's face broke out into a wide smile and he passed the contract to Mei Ji, who quickly scribbled her name on it. He then pushed the papers towards Ji Hoo.

_It is like I am about to sign my life away_, Ji Hoo thought as he picked up the pen. But just then Jun Pyo's face appeared in his mind, followed by Mei Ji's fateful words.

_Do you ever feel like your life is just cursed?_

"Yoon Ji Hoo," he signed carefully, right under Mei Ji's hurried signature. Ran-Young looked as though he was about to cry out of joy.

"Are we done now?" Mei Ji asked, standing up, "I have to get ready for the funeral".

"Ah yes," Ran-Young said, "why don't you take Ji Hoo-ah with you? It can be your first official debut as a couple!"

Mei Ji flashed a glare in her manager's direction. The man's smile faltered a bit.

"On the other hand, you two can always make your official debut as a couple tomorrow," he said quickly. Mei Ji nodded tightly and turned towards Ji Hoo.

"Ran-Young-nim will contact you whenever you are needed," she said simply before turning and leaving. Ji Hoo just looked at the manager.

"I apologize for Mei Ji-ssi's rash behavior," the man said quickly, "she isn't usually like this. I am sure you have heard about Jo Kwan Min".

Ji Hoo just blinked. Ran-Young took that to mean the man hadn't heard.

"The singer Jo Kwan Min," he continued, "he passed away in a car accident a few days ago. He was a very close friend of Mei Ji-ssi's. They went to elementary school together and were trainees here at the same time".

Ji Hoo just nodded. He wasn't sure what this Jo Kwan Min had to do with anything, and frankly it didn't matter. He didn't expect Mei Ji to act any other way that how she was acting now. And he knew she didn't expect anything out of him either.

Maybe the two of them being so similar wasn't such a bad thing after all. Real relationships wouldn't work like this, but fake ones were perfectly suited for it.

"Don't get discouraged," Ran-Young said, patting Ji Hoo on the back, "I'll call you tomorrow to discuss the schedule with you".

Ji Hoo nodded his head. He wasn't discouraged. Not in the least. In fact, for the first time in five years, he felt a bit encouraged. His life was finally moving somewhere. It might not be moving in a favorable direction, but still. He was moving away from always just being the same, predictable Yoon Ji Hoo.

Of course, there were others ways to go about this, but he had start somewhere.

_At least this way would prove to be more interesting…_


	3. Old and New Friends

**Alright, everybody. Here is the next chapter for you. Sorry for the long wait, but this chapter is rather long so I hope it makes up for it. Thanks and enjoy!**

* * *

**A Lesson in Karma**

**Old and New Friends**

* * *

Ji Hoo could hear their voices from all the way on the other side of the hallway. Loud rambunctious voices, only barely muffled by the heavy wooden door that led to Jun Pyo's study.

It had been a while since the F4 had met, and by the sounds of it, they weren't wasting any time in talking about their favorite subject.…Ji Hoo.

"Is he really dating Mei Ji?" Woo Bin's voice carried loudly. Ji Hoo shook his head as he walked up the room.

"I think he is," Jun Pyo answered, "I went over to his house yesterday and he seemed so secretive about the whole thing."

"I suppose it is a good thing. He hasn't even looked at a girl in so long I was afraid he was going gay…"

"Yi Jung!"

"What? You guys can't say the thought hasn't crossed your mind either" Yi Jung said, trying to defend himself.

"If he was gay, which one of us do you think he would fall in love with?" Jun Pyo asked, his thought process as childish as ever.

"Definitely Yi Jung," Woo Bin said without hesitation, "he's always been attracted to the odder girls… no offence"

"Nah, it would definetly be you, Woo Bin" Yi Jung retorted, "If Jan Di was any indication, he likes the slightly violent type".

Ji Hoo stood outside the door, in absolute wonder at the direction in which his best friends' conversation was going.

_Why am I even friends with these people_, Ji Hoo questioned as he reached for the doorknob. Suddenly he felt his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly took it out and saw that he had a new text from Ran-Young.

Ji Hoo sighed and flipped his phone open. This was his fifth text that day from the crazed manager. Ji Hoo felt as though he had signed on to be in a relationship with Ran-Young rather than Mei Ji.

"Ji Hoo-ah, where are you?" the message asked. The man let out another sigh (_where were all these sighs coming from? Perfect Ji Hoo never sighed_) as he read the message. So not only was Ran-Young persistent, he was also a stalker. _How wonderful._

"The Shinwa manor," Ji Hoo texted back, offering no further information for the sole reason that Ran-Young didn't really deserve any further information. Ji Hoo didn't have to explain any of his actions to the man.

_Maybe he should be more worried about Mei Ji's whereabouts than mine_, he thought as he opened the door to Jun Pyo's study. He wondered if Ran-Young even knew that Mei Ji had tried to kill herself.

"Ah, here he is. The man of the hour!" Jun Pyo cried as Ji Hoo walked into the room, looking as lost in his own thoughts as always.

"You know, I always wondered what you were thinking about when you came in with that expression on your face," Yi Jung said with a smile, "and now we all know".

Ji Hoo looked up at his friend, who was lazily lounging on one of Jun Pyo's stark white sofas.

"You're thinking about Mei Ji, aren't you?" Woo Bin asked from his perch next to Yi Jung.

Ji Hoo didn't say anything because he never really shared his thoughts with anybody, not even his closet friends. And because, more importantly, Woo Bin was correct. He had been thinking about Mei Ji. Not that he would say it out loud and add more fuel to fodder his friends' fire. They already seemed quite obsessed about this whole relationship business, which was understandable.

They had never expected Ji Hoo to actually get into a relationhip. Ji Hoo couldn't blame them for thinking that way.

_After all, he never expected a relationship out of himself either._

"Come on, Ji Hoo-ah," Jun Pyo whined, "can't you give us a little detail about this relationship?"

"You owe it to us for not telling us about it in the first place," Yi Jung added in. Ji Hoo sunk down into one of Jun Pyo's couches.

"We've got so many questions," Woo Bin said, frowning.

"Then ask away," Ji Hoo said, a small smile touching his lips. Ran-Young had trained him on all the fake details of his fake relationship earlier on in the day, and he felt ready to tackle any questions that his friends threw his way.

Actually, he was certain he could tackle his friend's questions. He had been with the three of them for nearly three decades now; he could predict them all like clockwork.

_Jun Pyo will ask how long Mei Ji and I have been dating_

"So how long has it been since the two of you started to go out?" Jun Pyo asked.

"Four months," Ji Hoo answered without a trace of amusement in his voice.

_Now Yi Jung is going to ask how Mei Ji and I met…_

"How did you ever manage to meet her in the first place?" Yi Jung questioned, "I mean, idol stars don't usually just hang out near hospitals, and that is the only place beside your house you ever go"

"Mei Ji-ssi's grandmother needed to have knee surgery," Ji Hoo answered, not even batting an eye, "she brought her into our hospital and I met her there".

_And finally Woo Bin will ask why I have hid this information from them… though he will use much more colorful language to state his question._

"So one last question, you sneaky little bastard. Why the hell did you not tell us about this?" Woo Bin asked, "We've known each other for 29 damn years. Does that mean nothing to you?"

Ji Hoo finally showed signs of slight amusement; his eyes brightened slightly before answering Woo Bin's question. Over the years Woo Bin's "yo man", "wassap dawg", and other forms of faux-gangster speech had been replaced by various swear words. The swear words, in Ji Hoo's opinion, were much more conventional and a lot less embarrassing.

_It had been a good move on Woo Bin's part._

"Mei Ji-ssi and I never decided to officially date until just a few days ago," Ji Hoo said, "we didn't want to date at first because her company didn't allow their artists to date, but we finally managed to get their permission the day that the article came out".

Yi Jung whistled and shook his head.

"So you and Mei Ji fought for the chance to be together?" Jun Pyo asked happily, "I suppose you did learn from the best".

"A forbidden love between a top star and a rich young doctor," Woo Bin said dramatically, eliciting a loud laugh from Yi Jung.

"Ah, Ji Hoo-ah, that sounds like something straight out of drama," Jun Pyo mussed. Ji Hoo smiled to himself; _his friends didn't know the half of it._

"Your life is a bit like a drama too, though, Jun Pyo" Ji Hoo said, "the heir of the largest company in Korea falls in love with a violent commoner and tries to date her though his mother tries to stop their relationship at all costs".

"Aish, who would want to watch a drama with that plot?" Jun Pyo said, shaking his head, "for a person who is dating a star you don't seem to know much about marketable dramas".

"I don't really see you with Mei Ji, though" Yi Jung interjected, "she just seems so happy and innocent. It doesn't seem like your type".

Happy? Innocent? Ji Hoo almost laughed at that statement. The Mei Ji he knew was nothing like that. The Mei Ji he knew was jaded eyes, delicate features wrought with fatigue, messy hair that the wind whipped into her pale face as she hoisted herself over the railing of a bridge. The young idol star was anything but innocent and happy.

"Truthfully, I always thought that you would get together with Jae Kyung," Woo Bin interjected. Jun Pyo's head shot up at the mention of his ex-fiancée.

"Oi, why did you think that our Ji Hoo-ah would get together with that monkey?" he asked.

"She turned out to be a pretty nice girl," Yi Jung said, mulling over the thought, "actually Ji Hoo and Jae Kyung would have made a nice pair."

_After all, both of their loves had been stolen… by each other._

"Didn't you hook up with her after Jun Pyo's wedding, you little bastard?" Woo Bin asked, eyebrows raised high.

"You did what?!?" Jun Pyo cried.

"Don't be vulgar," Ji Hoo answered with a slight shake of his head. He wasn't like Woo Bin or Yi Jung. He could never bring himself to just hook up with a woman. He wasn't a hopeless romantic like Jun Pyo—not in the least. It was just that he didn't find himself attracted to that many women. Most of them were fake, shallow, or just plain frightening.

His mother had died when he was young, and he had been raised by men his whole life. Ji Hoo figured that he found himself attracted to the nurturing type because of this. Both of his past loves had been comforting, almost mother-like to him. They were safe.

_Mei Ji is most certainly not safe_, Ji Hoo mussed, _another reason why this relationship would never work in real life._

_How many reasons was he up to already?_ He had already lost count.

Suddenly Yi Jung's phone rang and all the three men looked over at him.

"Aw, our little Jung Jung just got a text from Ga Eul," Woo Bin said, the amusement in his voice very obvious. He grabbed the phone from Yi Jung and tossed it to Jun Pyo before the man could protest.

"Ah, look. He saved Ga Eul's number in his phone under the name 'My Lovely Ga Eul'" Jun Pyo said, laughing. Yi Jung blushed a furious shade of red and even Ji Hoo couldn't help but join in the laughter.

"What does the text say?" Woo Bin asked.

"Don't the lot of you know anything privacy?" Yi Jung asked, his cheeks still a wonderful scarlet color.

"No," Jun Pyo and Woo Bin chimed at the same time.

"So you're alright with Ji Hoo keeping a relationship private for four months, but you won't let me keep my texts private?" Yi Jung asked.

"Ah, Jung Jung, you know that Ji Hoo-ah is our special child," Jun Pyo said, "we're just too happy that he actually managed to snag a girl".

"What does the text say?" Woo Bin asked again, his voice taking on a whine. Ji Hoo shook his head. He had skipped the opportunity to get some extra sleep after work for _this_? But as much as he wanted to just blow off his friends and leave he knew he couldn't. After all, the F4 was the F4, no matter how childish they were.

So what if Jun Pyo and Woo Bin were immature? Ji Hoo had grown up with the boys and it had gotten to the point where he didn't think he would change his friends' personalities even if he could. They were his immature boys, and Ji Hoo cherished the fact that there were some things in his life that were not only constant but also constantly _his_.

"Sunbae, when are you going to come home today? I just finished cooking dinner?" Jun Pyo read aloud, putting on a fake falsetto voice that sounded more like a shrill dolphin cry than an imitation of Ga Eul's voice.

"You two have been together for five years and she still calls you sunbae?" Woo Bin asked.

"I told her to just call me Yi Jung, but she doesn't listen," Yi Jung answered, "and I gave up trying to argue with her".

"You're completely whipped and you aren't even married yet," Woo Bin sighed, "at least Jun Pyo waited until after marriage".

"I am not whipped!" Jun Pyo cried out. He was met with pointed stares from his three friends.

"I'm really not!" Jun Pyo said, louder this time.

"Not what?"

All four men turned to see Jan Di standing in the doorway of the study.

"Nothing, darling," Jun Pyo answered quickly, his voice becoming softer and gentler, as it always did when he was speaking to his wife.

Ji Hoo resisted the urge to gag at the scene while Woo Bin and Yi Jung snickered to each other.

"Why are you here, Jan Di-ah? Do you need something?" Jun Pyo continued, looking upon his wife with warm eyes. It had been five years since they had gotten married and Jun Pyo still couldn't believe that she was his. After all they had gone through to get to the point that they were, just seeing Jan Di dressed in clothes his sister had helped her pick out, a wedding ring he had painstakingly chosen sparkling on her finger; it was enough to make Jun Pyo perpetually happy.

"Oh, I don't need anything; but there is a visitor here," Jan Di said, her eyes moving towards Ji Hoo, a smile creeping on her face. For a moment, Ji Hoo's heart stopped.

_Had Ran-Young stalked me all the way here_, he thought quickly.

But the figure that walked into the study wasn't the burly manager at all. Instead it was a slight figure with wavy hair, doe eyes, and alabaster skin.

"Mei Ji," Ji Hoo whispered as the girl entered the study. He looked up to see his three friends staring at the girl, eyes wide and jaws slacked. After all, it wasn't every day that the country's most popular star walked into Jun Pyo's study.

Mei Ji looked up at the four men in front of her. She knew them well, all of Korea did. Song Woo Bin, great friend of the entertainment industry and the supposed head of some of Korea's nastiest gangs. So Yi Jung, the prized potter with supposed 'magic hands' that could craft masterpieces in minutes, the man who was Korea's main cultural export. Goo Jun Pyo, the head of the Shinwa Corporation and the richest man in all of Korea, if not all of Asia.

And then there was Ji Hoo, wearing a white suit and a confused expression. His copper hair lay in messy angles on his sculpted face, and his large eyes were blinking rapidly. Mei Ji thought she could actually stand him if he looked like this, confused and a bit mussed. She had enough of pretty boys. She was constantly surrounded by good-looking men, and they were starting to grate on her.

_So maybe coming into the company of the F4 wasn't the best move for her to make…_

"Park Mei Ji-ssi," Jun Pyo said, the formal tone of his voice shocking his friends, "this is a pleasant surprise".

Woo Bin smirked to himself. It was a known fact in the F4 that Mei Ji had always been Jun Pyo's favorite celebrity. The man owned all of the girl's albums and dramas and was always going on about her voice, her looks, her acting skills.

"Ji Hoo," Woo Bin whispered, "better be careful that Jun Pyo doesn't steal your girl"

_It wouldn't be the first time._

Mei Ji bowed deeply, exceedingly formally.

"I am very sorry if I was interrupting something," she said, her voice soft and sweet. Nothing at all like the richly deep and bitter voice Ji Hoo was used to hear coming from her mouth.

"Not at all," Yi Jung said quickly, trying to stop Jun Pyo from saying anything embarrassing. Especially since Jan Di was still standing in the doorway of the office.

"Ran-Young-nim told me that I would find you here," Mei Ji said, turning towards Ji Hoo, an almost exasperated expression on her face. The man could see that his 'girlfriend' was just as annoyed at her manager as he was.

"He is a very thorough manager," Ji Hoo said. Mei Ji almost laughed at the statement, but settled with just grinning. T_horough? Try more on the line of stalker…_

Ji Hoo saw the girl's grin and was taken aback by how captivating it was. Not that it was some sort of beautiful grin that lit up her face, or any of those descriptions people usually read in romance books. Instead, when Mei Ji grinned, one of her eyes became smaller than the other, resulting in her face taking on an almost lopsided look.

It was absolutely interesting and much more captivating than a typical "sunshine smile" would be. Ji Hoo felt the own corners of his mouth tugging a bit. Mei Ji saw the movement and raised her eyebrows.

_What is so amusing, Ji Hoo?_

Ji Hoo saw the question written in her delicate brows and blinked.

_You_

A faint blush crept up onto the girl's face as she saw the answer to her question in the way he smiled gently at her.

The F3 and Jan Di looked on at Ji Hoo and Mei Ji. Both of them had only spoken two lines to each other, yet at that moment, they seemed to be engaged in some sort of silent conversation with one another, completely private and shut out from everybody else.

Maybe it was because Ji Hoo and Mei Ji were just so similar. Maybe it was because both of them were good and reading people like themselves. Or maybe words just weren't needed sometimes.

Either way, Jan Di felt a slight sinking feeling in her stomach looking at the two people in front of her. Though she loved Jun Pyo, she was still used to Ji Hoo being there for her at all times. She was used to Ji Hoo being her firefighter, her knight in shining armor, always there to protect her.

But now there was Mei Ji with her idol looks and silent conversations and Jan Di knew that she was going to lose Ji Hoo. It was a bittersweet pill to swallow. On one hand, she wanted Ji Hoo to find his happiness, but on the other she didn't want to lose the man either.

"I came to pick you up for the press conference," Mei said to Ji Hoo, finally speaking, "I hope you didn't forget about it".

_As if Ran-Young would let me forget about it_, Ji Hoo thought acridly as he got up from the couch.

"Wait a minute, Ji Hoo. Where do you think you're going?" Woo Bin called out. Ji Hoo turned to face his friend, his eyebrows drawing together.

"A press conference?" he answered slowly.

"We can't just let you go like that!" Woo Bin said before turning to Mei Ji, "we still need to give her the test".

Ji Hoo, had he been less of a conservative man, would have groaned out loud at the statement. Instead, he settled for just giving Woo Bin a look of disapproval. "The test", as his violent friend had termed, was given to any girl that the F4 members wanted to date. Since Yi Jung and Woo Bin were both notorious playboys who didn't really look to "date" many people, only a handful of girls had ever gone through the test process. In the end they either became fed up and left or the F4 found them to be unworthy of dating one of their own.

_And people wondered why the four boys never seemed to have girlfriends._

"Do we really have to do this?" Ji Hoo asked, "neither Jan Di nor Ga Eul went through the test, and they are the only ones that actually ended up sticking with us. Maybe that is a sign for us to stop this process".

"Ga Eul and Jan Di went through an even harder process than the test," Yi Jung piped in, "besides, how else are we supposed to be able to get to know Mei Ji-ssi?"

"What is this test?" Mei Ji asked, her voice laced with a mix of amusement and curiosity.

"A firing squad," Yi Jung answered, only slightly sarcastically.

"Sounds interesting," Mei Ji answered in the same quick and non-ironic tone.

"A firing squad sounds interesting to you?" Jun Pyo asked, finally getting over his shock and speaking, "do you have some sort of death wish?"

_What a perfect thing to ask a suicidal girl_, Ji Hoo thought bitterly as soon as the words left Jun Pyo's mouth. But then again, his best friend had no way of knowing that Mei Ji was suicidal.

"It's just a firing squad of questions," Woo Bin explained, though the statement just made Mei Ji even more confused, "sit down on that couch over there and we'll do it quickly".

"You don't have to do this," Ji hoo whispered to Mei Ji. The girl turned towards him, amusement written all over her beautiful face.

"I've been through worse," she answered lightly before walking up and sitting on the couch as Woo Bin had instructed her to. She turned towards the boys and put on her famous smile, sparkling and utterly fake.

"Okay," she said, "let's start".

Jun Pyo was silenced for a few seconds at the dazzling smile that had been tossed his way and was only woken out of his stupor when Jan Di, who was still standing in the doorway, coughed loudly.

"Okay…" Jun Pyo said quickly, "let's start". He turned towards Woo Bin, who had moved to the seat next to him.

"Alight, we'll start with the easy ones," Woo Bin said, "name? And the real one, not your stage name".

"My real name is Park Mei Ji," the girl answered, not offering anything else.

"Birthplace?" Woo Bin continued.

"Pusan."

"Age?" Yi Jung added in.

"I was born in 88," Mei Ji answered. All three boys looked up. That meant that the girl in front of them was 21. Jun Pyo looked over at Ji Hoo with one eyebrow raised.

"You do realize that there is an eight year age difference between you and Ji Hoo, don't you?" Woo Bin asked.

_So the man was 29_, Mei Ji thought to herself, _he most certainly did not look his age_. She had guessed that he was around the same age as herself ,or mid twenties at the latest.

"Of course," she answered, "does it matter?" she asked, pinning Woo Bin with a questioning look. The man smiled at her sincerity. Mei Ji smiled back.

_They didn't call her the best actress in Korea for nothing._

"Past relationships," Woo Bin continued. Mei Ji sighed a little before continuing. They were getting into dangerous territory now.

"I've only had one," she answered. The boys nodded. For her age, one past relationship would be typical.

"How long ago did it end?" Jun Pyo asked.

_Five days ago._

"A while…" Mei Ji offered.

"And how did it end?" the boy prodded further.

_Late night. Heavy rain falling upon the twisted pile of metal and rubber that had once been a car. Flashing lights and sirens from ambulances surrounding everything._

"Oi, Jun Pyo, don't you think you asking a little too much?" Jan Di whispered from her perch in the doorway. Mei Ji shook her head at Jan Di's words. She had agreed to do this test, and she would do it.

"We were forced to split". Mei Ji answered shortly.

Jun Pyo nodded his head wisely, thinking that Mei and her ex-boyfriend had been in a similar position to Jan Di and himself.

"You have to fight for that kind of thing," Jun Pyo said, "you can't let anything stop your relationship!"

_Even death?_

"But if I had, then I wouldn't have found Ji Hoo" Mei Ji answered, letting her eyes widen (_a time tested tick to feigning innocence_).

Ji Hoo almost snickered from his place next to Jan Di (_how did he always find himself next to her?_). Mei Ji really did deserve every acting award that was awarded to her.

Jun Pyo laughed and turned towards his best friend.

"Ji Hoo-ah, I like this one," he said, though in reality, Jun Pyo would have liked the girl no matter what her answers would have been. Adoration did that to people.

"I like her too," Woo Bin said. They both turned their heads to Yi Jung. They needed all three of them to approve of Mei Ji before they would let Ji Hoo date her.

Yi Jung cocked his head to the side and looked at the idol star that was perched on the couch. If there was one thing that he was good at, it was reading women. After all, he had been with so many in the past that he was bound to have learned things along the way.

And he didn't know what it was about Mei Ji. It could have been the way that the girl's expressions where hidden behind her cool demeanor, it could have been the innocent and funny side she always showed on TV, or it could have been the desperation and sadness that the boy could see in her light brown eyes. Or it could have been a combination of those three things. But there was just something about her that made her exactly like Ji Hoo.

_And maybe after searching for the opposite of himself, Ji Hoo just needed to be with someone like him._

"I like her a lot," Yi Jung answered, causing Jun Pyo and Woo Bin to break into large smiles.

"Ya, don't let Ga Eul hear you say that!" Jun Pyo said as he turned towards Mei Ji.

"Congratulations," he said, extending his hand out towards her, "you are officially part of the F4 circle now".

Mei Ji reached out and shook his hand, the same thought crossing both her and Ji Hoo's mind as she did.

_Was being part of the F4 circle really a good thing?_


End file.
